A mid-life crisis set to music.

Kronomyth 6.3: All the greenery with equality.

Take the Long Way Home is my favorite song by Supertramp. Married men, can I get an amen? Of course, I enjoyed this song long before I was married, but it took on a deeper meaning after marriage. Maybe you don’t know what I’m talking about, and I envy you for that. Anyway, great song, very Kinksian in its humble view of the rock star as a human being (shades of Soap Opera). Supertramp’s songs had a peculiar sympathy for the underdog, which also appears on the edited B side, Rudy. It struck me as odd that Rick Davies was mentioned first in the songwriting credits for “Take the Long Way Home” (written by Roger Hodgson) and Hodgson was cited first in “Rudy” (written by Davies). The pair’s generosity goes deeper than that, however. According to a 2024 lawsuit brought by the remaining three members, Davies and Hodgson split songwriting credits in order to share the songwriting royalties with all five members. For over forty years, the non-writing members earned at least $100,000 per year from Supertramp’s songwriting royalties. Those socialist bastards.

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Original 7-inch single version

A1. Take the Long Way Home (Rick Davies/Roger Hodgson) (4:03)
B1. Rudy (Roger Hodgson/Rick Davies) (5:40)

Promotional 7-inch single version
A1. Take the Long Way Home (edited version) (Rick Davies/Roger Hodgson) (4:03)
B1. Take the Long Way Home (long version) (Rick Davies/Roger Hodgson) (5:02)

The Plastic

Released on 7-inch single on October 13, 1979 in the US and Canada (A&M, 2193-S) and France (A&M, AMS 7646) with regional picture sleeve. Reached #10 on the US charts (charted on October 13, 1979 for 15 weeks). Also released as promotional 7-inch single in 1979 in the US (A&M, 2193-S) with different B side.